KYQ4: Fisherfield Five plus One

Ruadh Stac Mor and A' Mhaighdean

The Fisherfield Five, as we now must call them following the unfortunate relegation of Beinn a' Chlaidhemh from Munro status last year, provide one of the longest days in any Munro round. I had previously climbed them twice in each direction starting from the Shenaval both or from wild camps after a first day driving up and climbing An Teallach. I had two near-perfect days in 1990 and 1995 and one glorious morning in 2005 that erupted into a fierce and prolonged downpour in the late afternoon. The other occasion was when I took Gregor, my teenage son, in 2001 and after climbing An Teallach on the way in, a fierce gale and an overnight downpour forced us to spend the night in a cave at the bealach between Ruadh Stac Mor and A' Mhaighdean. I was under no delusion that even in the forecast good weather this would be a long and tough day in this mountain nirvana.

Fisherfield is a very special place as I was told when I met the late W.H. Murray in 1995 at the premiere of the film Rob Roy at what is now the Golden Jubilee Hospital. He had written the book on which the film was based and when I told him that I was going to Fisherfield the next morning. He apologised to the queue for book signing behind me whist he regaled me with his tales of Shenaval, An Teallach and Beinn Dearg Mhor, all of them his favourite haunts. He urged me to climb Beinn Dearg Mhor as well as An Teallach and the Fisherfield six munros. We managed them all in two long hard days including the drive up. He was a remarkable character, a talented writer and he was right about Beinn Dearg Mhor which remains one of my favourite Corbetts.

Thursday 30 May 2013

Ascent: 2655 metres
Distance: 28 kilometres
Time: 13 hours 2 minutes

m Ruadh Stac Mor 918m 1hr 59mins
m A' Mhaighdean 967m 3hrs 18mins
m Beinn Tarsuinn 937m 5hrs 29mins
m Mullach Mhic Fhearchair 1018m 6hrs 44mins
m Sgurr Ban 969m 7hrs 21mins
c Beinn a' Chaisgein Mor 856m 11hrs 47mins

I was with my old hill running partner, Keith, we had made a late start after he drove to my house and we left home at noon the previous day. It had been a 4pm start for the long walk in from Poolewe to Carnmore including the Corbett of Beinn Airigh Charr on the way, we had not turned in until 11:30pm. It was 9am before we set out from the tents in the morning mist. As we climbed the stalker's path from Carnmore up to the Lochan we emerged from the mist at about 400 metres and the entire collection of Fisherfield mountains loomed into view. It was a magical reunion with what must surely be Scotland's wildest and most remote mountains.

The track up to the bealach between Ruadh Stac Mor and A' Mhaighdean is well-graded and at the top, we dumped our rucksacks and headed up the steep scree slopes of Ruadh Stac Mor. We followed a faint path through the rocks until we reached the higher slopes when a more discernable path through the scree was followed. The red sandstone provides a good grip and we were on the summit in no time. We could see a party of four on the summit of A' Mhaighdean and the views to Beinn Dearg Mhor and An Teallach provided a scintillating backdrop to the north. This was a day to stop and loiter on summits. We did so all day, maybe a little too complacent about our ability to get around all of Fisherfield in a day now we were in our sixties

We descended through the rock and scree to the bealach where I located the cave where Gregor and I had once spent an uncomfortable night in gale-force winds and rain. I had had to erect the tent inside the cave to keep the water off us and it was sheer bloody-mindedness that drove us around the Fisherfield six that day. The steep climb up to A' Mhaighdean today was a jaunt into magical mountainscapes. When we reached the summit, possibly with the finest views of all Munros we decided to take a break in the sun for half an hour to soak in the views over a leisurely lunch, something that we never normally entertain. There is a long easy descent down an open meadow to the bealach. We were able to top up with water before tackling the next three munros.

The climb up Beinn Tarsuinn (or in the other direction the climb up A' Mhaighdean) is the spoiler of the Fisherfield hills. The views are hidden, the ground is mainly bog and heather and it is a 400-metre uphill slog in either direction. The summit ridge is a different matter, it is airy with great views and provides an easy and enjoyable scramble. The summit is a balcony for panoramas that eclipse almost anywhere else: the Torridons, Slioch, Fisherfield, An Teallach and the sublime Beinn Dearg Mhor. I finished my food and we set out for the descent and then undercut the outlier of Meall Garbh before starting the steep and relentless ascent of Mullach Mhic Fhearchair. Keith went out to take in the eastern tops, he always climbs all Munro tops, even those that had been deleted. My own objective was to climb the remote Corbett of Beinn a' Chaisgein Mor at the end of the day, so we had agreed to split at this point.

I wasted no time and descended the white powdery, rocky and steep path before climbing the slightly easier path to the pile of rocks that goes under the name of Sgurr Ban. As I reached the summit I could see Keith summiting on Mullach. There was no sense in waiting as Keith was going to take in the deleted Munro, Beinn a' Chlaidheimh, so I started the descent down the huge area of quartzite blocks before deciding that there must be a better way and took a direct route for Loch a'Bhrisidh. There were still some snow patches and beyond that a combination of large blocks and heather that was hard on the feet and legs and even more so on the concentration. It continued in this vein for 500 metres of descent all the way down to Gleann na Muice but with peat bogs added to the cocktail of difficult ground conditions.

Wading the river was a reward: cool feet and then at the other side more accommodating grassy slopes leading to a bealach northeast of Rudh Stac Beag at 524 metres. From here the views of Beinn Dearg Mhor were mesmerising and An Teallach was not bad either. I dropped down to 425 metres to reach the stalker's path and then climbed steadily until reaching the couple of lochans from where I began a long ascent over convex slopes which went on for several kilometres until I reached the summit of Beinnn a'Chaisgein Mor at about 9pm. It was a memorable evening with clear visibility of Scotland's finest mountains and wonderful sea views came into play. Beinn Lair looked most impressive and this was on the menu for the next morning. I was also pleased that after another wonderful day in Fisherfield, it would take less than an hour to reach the tent

I resisted returning by the same route, time was getting late, and I figured that I could descend by a steep gulley to Carnmore if the Harvey Map was right and the rock faces were on only one side of the burn. It was not an easy descent but I was down at the tent which was visible below just before 10pm. Keith had not arrived back so I presumed that he must have decided to climb the Corbett as well. I had finished my supper and was ready to turn in on a benign evening when Keith arrived at the back at 11pm. He had indeed done the Corbett and completed a 14-hour stint on the hills. Fisherfield exhausts as much as it inspires, sleep was calling.